Lasting machine



Oct. 21, 1947. E. F. SMALL 2,429,333

LASTING MACHINE Filed Nov. 19, 1945 2 Sheet -s--Sheet 1 l9 I 50 I7 2 46 I6 64 g 1? *F YM 0 I 3 5220 7 Oct. 21,1947. E. F. SMALL LAST-INC: MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 19, 1945 Patented Oct. 21, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LASTING MACHINE Edward F. Small, Newton, Mass., assignor to Compo Shoe Machinery Corporation, Boston, Mass, a corporation of Delaware Application November 19, 1945, Serial No. 629,353

24 Claims. (01. 121) This invention relates to machines for use in v progressively tensioned and wiped into lasted position.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved machine having simple yet effective mechanism for lasting in a rapid and efficient manner shoes of the type wherein the upper is secured in lasted position by an adhesive.

Another object of the invention is to provide a lasting machine of the above described type which is simple and economical to construct and which can be operated with a minimum of instruction and effort.

Heretofore, machines for progressively lasting uppers have been made and such machines have been provided with grippers which tension, overlast and wipe down successive portions of the upper. However, such machines do not automatically advance the shoe past the grippers and therefore such burden is placed upon the operator of the machine. Such machines must also, of necessity, be run at low speed in order that the operator can advance the shoe at the moment the grippers release the upper, otherwise fragile uppers are apt to be torn or otherwise damaged.

Other lasting machines, which have been provided with means to advance the shoe as the upper is being tensioned by the grippers, do not provide for overlasting and wiping down of the upper at the point of tensioning and they rely upon some form of vibratory or rotary wiper arranged to operate upon the upper after it is released by the tensioning grippers. These arrangements do not always accomplish satisfactory lasting since uppers of material having a springy or resile nature tend to return to their untensioned condition between the time of release by the tensioning means and the application of the actual wiping down of the upper into adhesive contact with the insole member of the shoe. Also, in such lasting machines, the separate tensioning, feeding, and wiping devices, if built to proportions to insure long life, occupy such an amount of space that manipulation of a shoe in engagement therewith is awkward and much instruction and practice is necessary before an operator becomes skilled in the operation thereof.

A feature of this invention resides in the provision of a lasting machine having a pair of grippers which are actuated to cause them to grip an area of the marginal portion of a shoe upper presented thereto, to tension the gripped upper about the shoe last, to overlast the upper and to wipe it smoothly into contact with the insole member of the shoe, and to advance the shoe so that successive portions of the upper are so treated, and the lasting is accomplished progressively along the entire margin of the shoe or along any desired length thereof.

Another feature of the invention resides in the provision of a pair of lasting grippers which are arranged to be oscillated parallel to the bottom face of the insole of a shoe presented thereto and in a manner which allows them to intermittently grip, tension, overlast and wipe down an area of the marginal portion of the upper and to advance the shoe in a direction which brings another area of the upper into position to be treated by the grippers as they are constantly oscillated.

A further feature of the invention is found in the provision of means for oscillating the grippers about a common axis and in timed relation to rapidly grip, last, and to advance and release the upper.

A still further feature of the invention resides in the provision of a machine having a pair of grippers which are small in size and which are operated to oscillate them at high speed within a small area and in a manner which causes them to grip, tension, overlast, wipe, and advance the shoe upper while allowing the operator to manipulate the shoe with ease.

Other features and objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements, and arrangement of parts, which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

For a, fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of

a lasting machineembodying features of my invention;

Fig; 2 is a partial sectional view taken substantially along lines 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the machine shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary front elevational View of the machine and showing a portion of the casting broken away to permit the operating mechanism to be viewed with clarity;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken substantially along lines 4-4 of Fig. 4, showing the wipergripper slightly advanced from its initial position and the position of the marginal portion of a shoe upper being engaged by the grippers is indicated by dot and dash lines;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. but showing the grippers rotated to the position where they have completed their lasting stroke; and,

Fig. 7 is a view similar to 'Figs. 5 and 6 but showing the wiper-gripper returning towards its initial position having released its gripping engagement with the indicated upper.

Referring to the drawing and .first to Fig. 1 thereof, there is shown a lastingmachine which comprises a column I9 upon which is mounted a frame member H having at its upper portion a housing l2 for the operating mechanism of the machine.

A bracket [3, afllxedto the frame H by screws I4, is provided with a'boss l5 having extending therethrough a bore 16 serving as a bearing for the shaft I! to which is keyed the pulley i8. To retain the shaft IT in its bearing the shaft has a portion IQ of reduced diameterforming a shoulder to which a thrust washer 20 is clamped by the nut 2i The pulley i8 is adapted to be constantly rotated by means of the belt 22 which may be driven by a suitable electric motor (not shown).

A crank pin 23 extending from the underside of the disc 24 formed on the lower end of the rotating shaft I1 is engaged by one end of the connecting rod 25 which is held in position by the thrust washer 26 being clamped by the nut 21 to a shoulder formed on the crank pin. The other end of the connectingrod 25 engages a crank pin 28 which extends from a disc '29 formed on a shaft '30 journalled'in the boss 3i depending from the housing 12. A thrust washer 32 which is clamped by the nut '33 to a shoulder formed on the crank pin 28 serves to keep the connecting rod in operating position.

As the crank pin 23 is rotated by the pulley IS the connecting rod 25 oscillates the shaft through an angle of less than 90. I

A collar 34 is secured to the lower end of the oscillating shaft '30 by a set screw 35 and depending from the collar 34 is a finger forming a shoe upper wipin and gripping member 36.

Another gripping member 31 is located in the path of the wiping and gripping member 36 and cooperates therewith to tension, feed, overlast and wipe successive portions of a shoe upper as hereinafter explained.

The gripping member 31 is arranged to be oscillated about the same axis as the wiper-gripper '36 and to accomplish .this it is secured to or may be formed integral with a shaft 33 which passes through a bore 39 formed in the center of the oscillating shaft 30.

In :order that the .shoe upper can be gripped between the face 40 of the wiper-gripper 3B and the face 4| of the gripper '3! and be 'tensioned thereby as the wiper-gripper oscillated as shown in Figs. "5 :to [friction is applied itothe shaft 38 to prevent it from being easily rotatedby .the wiper-gripper. (Such friction is 'supplied'by a friction disc 42:1oda-ted between the upper face of -a clutch member -'43'-which is secured to the shaft 38 by the set screw 44, and the bottom face of a bushing 45 'ithreaded into a cap dfi secured to the housing l2 'by the screws ll. The bushing 45 is internallythreadedzto receive a cup 48 having a wall against which bears the lower end of a 'coil spring '49 which surrounds the shaft 38. The

upper end of the spring 49 bears against a ball thrust bearing 56 retained on the shaft 38 by the nuts 5| and biases the shaft 38 upwardly to cause pressure to be applied to the friction disc 42.

The bushing 45 is locked in position by a check nut 52 and can be adjusted to raise or lower the shaft 38.

By adjusting the position of the cup 48 the pressure of the spring 49 can be varied to give more or less friction to the shaft 38 and consequently more or less tensioning of an upper located and gripped between the faces of the wipergripper 36 and the gripper 31.

The roll 54, which is freely rotatable about a stud '55 held in a boss 56 depending from the bottom of the housing 12, serves to guide a shoe as it is operated upon by the grippers.

.At the rearward position of the wiper-gripper 36 as indicated by dot dash lines in Fig. 5, a space is left between the face 49 and 4| of the respective gripper members to allow entry of the shoe upper, and as the wiper-gripper 36 advances towards the gripper 3! the upper is grippedbetween the face til and 4!. Further advancement of the Wiper-gripper 36 overcomes the friction tending to keep the gripper 31 stationary and as both grippers move the upper is tensioned about the last and is brought into overlasted relation while the bottom face 53 of the wiper-gripper 35 wipes the upper smoothly against the insole member of the shoe.

The hold-down 5'1 which is secured by the screws 58 to the frame of the machine serves to prevent the overlasted upper from being unlasted during the return stroke of the gripper 31 as hereinafter explained. l

Feeding or advancing of the shoe is automatically accomplished simultaneously with the tensioning, overlasting and wipin of the upper, as best shown in Figs. 5 and 6. During the forward or lasting stroke of the grippers the upper is gripped between "the face 40 and 4| of the gripping members at .a point spaced at a distance "212? from the center of the shaft 38 and as the grippers are moved in a counterclockwise direction and operate within the second quadrant of a circle. described about the center of the shaft 38, the point of grip advances to the distance new from the center of the shaft 38 when the grippers have completed their forward stroke. Thus, each oscillation of the grippers advances the shoe and tensions, overlasts, and Wipes the upper into contact with the insole.

Overlasti-ng and wiping of the upper continues during the entire forward stroke of the grippers or until the grippers have advanced to a point where the upper pulls out of the grippers through the lack of everlasting allowance. During a portion of the return stroke of the Wiper-gripper 36, the gripper 37 remains stationary until it is :spaced from the wiper-gripper 36 at a distance determined by the lost motion between the jaws 5% and 6B of the clutch member 43 and the driving dog 6! which extends from the disc 29 on the shaft 33, the driving dog 6! then engages the :clutch jaw 68 and returns the gripper 3'! to its initial position asshown in Fig.5.

In lasting ashoe with the-above described machine the operator presents the shoe'to "the oscillating grippers so that the upper is engaged thereby and the-'side'lof the shoe is in contact with the'guide 11011 St. Thegrippers then advance the shoe as theyitension, overlast the upper and wipe it into'adhesive'contact with the insole member of the shoe. As the grippers are operated constantly at high speed the lasting occurs progressively along the entire margin of the upper of the shoe as the shoe is held by the operator and guided by the roll 54.

In cases where very thick or heavy upper material is used on the shoe to be lasted, the grippers may be separated to facilitate easy entry of the upper therebetween. Such separation of the grippers is provided for by means of a lever 62 one end of which is pivoted at 63 to a lug 64 extending upwardly from the bracket l3. lhe other end of the lever 62 is arranged to contact the upper end of the shaft 38 and to depress the shaft 38 against the bias of the spring 38 when the operator depresses a foot treadle (not shown) which is connected to a rod 68 having a clevis 66 held to the lever 62 by the clevis pin 61.

While the above described machine is shown in Figure 1 to be operating upon a so-called platform shoe to overlast the platform wrapper to the platform, the machine is equally capable of overlasting the upper of a conventional shoe to an insole and it is intended that the word upper as used throughout the specification and claims shall be interpreted to mean shoe upper, platform wrapper, or any kind of lasting allowance which may be secured to a shoe upper. Also, the word insole shall be interpreted to mean insole, platform, or any other like member.

Since certain changes may be made in the above construction and different embodiments of the invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A lasting machine, comprising a pair of lasting grippers, and means actuating said lasting grippers to cause them to grip and tension a portion of the upper of a shoe presented thereto, to overlast and wipe such portion into lasted position upon the insole of the shoe, and to advance the shoe prior to operating upon a successive portion of the upper.

2. A lasting machine, comprising a pair of lasting grippers, and means actuating said lasting grippers to cause them to simultaneously overlast a portion of the upper of a shoe presented thereto, to wipe such portion into lasted position upon the insole of the shoe, and to ad vance the shoe prior to operating upon a successive portion of the upper.

3. A lasting machine, comprising a pair of lasting grippers, means for guiding a shoe presented to said lasting grippers, and means actuating said lasting grippers to cause them to overlast and wipe a portion of the shoe upper into lasted position upon the insole of the shoe, and to advance the shoe prior to operating upon a successive portion of the upper.

4. In a lasting machine, the combination comprising a pair of lasting grippers, means for guiding a shoe presented to said lasting grippers, and means for oscillating said grippers in an arcuate path extending along and across the lasting margin of the shoe to cause them to overlast and 6 wipe a portion of the shoe upper into lasted position upon the insole of the shoe, and to advance the shoe prior'to operating upon a successive portion of the upper.

5. In a lasting machine, the combination comprising a pair of lasting grippers, means for guiding a shoe presented to said grippers, and means for oscillating said grippers parallel to the insole of the shoe being operated upon and in an arcuate path extending along and across the lasting margin of the shoe to cause them to overlast and wipe a portion of the shoe upper into lasted position upon the insole of the shoe, and to advance the shoe prior to operating upon a successive portion of the upper.

6. In a lasting machine, the combination comprising a pair of lasting grippers, means for guiding a shoe presented to said grippers, and means for moving said grippers in a path extending along and across the lasting margin of the shoe, whereby an upper gripped therebetween will be overlasted and wiped into lasted position upon the insole of the shoe and the shoe advanced past said guiding means.

'7. In a lasting machine, the combination comprising cooperating wiper-gripper and gripper instrumentalities, and means for oscillating said instrumentalities about a common axis.

8. In a lasting machine, the combination comprising cooperating wiper-gripper and gripper instrumentalities, and means for oscillating said instrumentalities about a vertical axis.

9. In a lasting machine, the combination comprising cooperating wiper-gripper and gripper instrumentalities, means for guiding a shoe to be operated upon by said instrumentalities, and means for oscillating said instrumentalities about a common axis.

10. In a lasting machine, the combination comprising wiping and gripping instrumentalities, means for guiding a shoe presented to said instrumentalities, and means for oscillating said instrumentalities about an axis extending substantially at a right angle to the plane of the shoe bottom being operated upon.

11. In a lasting machine, the combination comprising cooperating wiper-gripper and gripper instrumentalities, means for guiding a shoe presented to said instrumentalities, and means operable to oscillate said instrumentalities parallel to the bottom of the shoe and transversely thereof.

12. In a lasting machine, the combination comprising cooperating wiper-gripper and, gripper instrumentalities, said instrumentalities being arranged for swinging movement about a common axis, means for guiding a shoe presented to said instrumentalities, and means for oscillating said instrumentalities parallel to the bottom of the shoe and transversely thereof.

13. In a lasting machine, the combination comprising an oscillatable wiper-gripper, means for oscillating said wiper-gripper about a fixed axis, a gripper located in the path of said wiper-gripper and oscillatable about its said fixed axis, and means allowing said gripper to partake of the oscillatingmovement of said wiper-gripper.

14. In a lasting machine, the combination comprising an oscillatable wiper-gripper, means for oscillating said wiper-gripper, a gripper located in the path of said wiper-gripper, said gripper being oscillatable about the same axis as said wiper-gripper, and means allowing said gripper to partake of the oscillating movement of said wipergripper.

515.111 a lasting machine, the combination comprising an oscillatable wiper-gripper, means for oscillating said wiper-gripper, a gripper located in the path of said wiper-gripper and normally spaced therefrom to allow entry of a shoe upper therebetween, said gripper being oscillatable about the same axis as said wipergripper, and means, for allowing said gripper to partake of the movement of said wiper-gripper during the wiping and lasting stroke thereof, for allowing said gripper to remain stationary during a portion of the return stroke of said wipergripper, and for returning said gripper to its original position.

16. In a lasting machine, the combination comprising an oscillatable wiper-gripper, a gripper located in the path of said wiper and normally spaced therefrom to allow entry of a shoe upper therebetween said gripper being oscillatable about the same axis as said wiper-gripper, means for guiding a shoe presented to said wiper-gripper and said gripper, means for oscillating said wiper-gripper parallel to the plane of the shoe bottom presented thereto and transversely there- .of, and means, for allowing said gripper to partake of the movement of said wiper-gripper during the wiping and lasting stroke thereof, for allowing said gripper to remain stationary during a portion of the return stroke of said wipergripper, and for returning said gripper to its original position.

17. A lasting machine, comprising combination inwiping gripping means, said combination inwiping gripping means being actuated to coperatively grip, tension and inwipe the upper of a shoe presented thereto and to advance the shoe.

18. A lasting machine, comprising inwiping means and gripping means, said inwipi-ng and gripping means being arranged to swing parallel to the bottom of a shoe presented thereto and actuated to co-operatively grip, tension and inwipe the upper and to advance the shoe.

19. In a lasting machine, the combination comprising wiping and gripping instrumentalities, means for guidinga shoepresented to and fed past said instrumentalities, and means for oscillating said instrumentalities parallel to the plane of the shoe bottom and within the quadrant lying in the direction in which the shoe is fed.

20. In a lasting machine, the combination comprising a member adapted to engage the outer side of the lasting allowance of a shoe upper, a member adapted to .engage the inner side of the lasting allowance, a tubular shaft extending from one of said members, a shaft extending from the other of said members and passing through said .tubular shaft, and means for oscillating said tubular shaft.

21. In a lasting machine, the combination comprising a member adapted to engage the outer side of the lasting allowance of a shoe upper, a member adapted to engage the'inner side of the lasting allowance, a tubular shaft extending from one of said members, a shaft extending from the other of said members and passing through said tubular shaft, power operated means for oscillating one of said shafts, and means connected to said power oscillated shaft for oscillating the other of said shafts.

22. In a lasting machine, the combination comprising a, member adapted to engage the outer side of the lasting allowance of a shoe upper, a member adapted to engage the inner side of the lasting allowance, a tubular shaft extending from one of said members, a shaft extending from the other of said members and passing through said tubular shaft, power operated means for oscillating one of said shafts, and means connected to said power oscillated shaft for oscillating the other of said shafts a lesser amount.

23. In a lasting machine, the combination comprising a member adapted to engage the outer side of the lasting allowance of a shoe upper, a member adapted to engage the inner side of the lasting allowance, a tubular shaft extending from one of said members, a shaft extending from the other of said members and passing through said tubular shaft, power operated means for oscillating one of said shafts, and a lost motion device connecting said shafts.

24. In a lasting machine, the combination comprising a member adapted to engage the outer side of the lasting allowance of a shoe upper, a member adapted to engage the inner side of the lasting allowance, a tubular shaft extending from one of said members, a shaft extending from the other of said members and passing through said tubular shaft, power operated means for oscillating one of said shafts, means restraining the other of said shafts from rotation, and means connected to said power oscillated shaft for overcoming said restraining means and for oscillating said other shaft.

EDWARD F. SMALL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 507,550 Lombard Oct. 31, 1893 591,327 Collyer Oct. 5, 1897 1,472,823 Ashton Nov. 6, 1923 1,966,479 Bates July 17, 1934 2,0 l1,955 Pym May 26, 1936 2,238,244 Brostrom Apr. 5, 1941 2,327,392 Baker Aug. 24, 1943 

